An Overnight Stay At Redworth Hall

Exploring the North East further has been on the top of my list of things to do this year. I’ve said this before that I often take for granted what’s around me rather than constantly dreaming of the bright lights further afield. So I’ve recently been appreciating the North East in all of its glory. I headed to the idyllic Redworth Hall a few weeks ago and thought I’d share my experience.

Redworth Hall is a stunning 17th century Jacobean Manor House situated in the blissful tranquillity of its own 26 acres of landscaped grounds in County Durham. The hall is part of The Cairn Collection and is a signature four-star hotel, home to 143 bedrooms, The Retreat fitness and beauty rooms as well as a number of function rooms.

There’s a lot of history to the place, it was originally constructed in the 1690s as a family manor. It’s been seen to be known as a Grove, House and Hall throughout its lengthy history, before going on to become a school, and later, a hotel as it stands to this day. In recent years the hotel has had a £150k facelift and I had the chance to review the progress.

I decided to take along my other half for a romantic night away. We arrived around 3 in the afternoon and it was a beautiful Autumnal day, leaves on the ground, a noticeable chill in the air but the sun shining through which really highlighted the ora of the building. Parking is situated on the side of the building so we parked up and headed to the main entrance.

Redworth really is stunning, it has a very lavish entrance. I headed to the reception to check in, which was quick and easy with no fuss. Lastly, we were guided to our room, which was located at the front of building meaning we had an amazing view of the grounds.

Our room was warm, cosy and inviting. It was a ‘Deluxe House’ room meaning it was very spacious too. I loved the rooms traditional interior. The room is decorated in rich, warm fabrics which bring out a lot of character. You benefit from upgraded toiletries and complimentary mineral water alongside robes and slippers in the deluxe rooms too which was an added bonus. The room certainly had a homely and hearty feel to it which I think is an element most modernised hotels have missing. The bathroom was pleasant too, complimented with a huge spa bath much to my delight (I do love a good bath!). The room is also fitted with a mini fridge and a flat-screen TV. First impressions of the room after exploring all its nooks and crannies were fantastic, but the last part of the room test is diving into the bed head first. I’m pleased to confirm, the bed passed my test. It was super comfortable and the sheets were so soft!

We freshened up and headed to The Retreat for a spa afternoon. Redworth’s Retreat has undergone a magnificent refurbishment programme, designed to significantly enhance its facilities and promote an aura of relaxation. Their brand new beauty rooms and fitness studio offers state-of-the-art facilities and a revitalised long list of treatments and spa days that are designed to immerse you in a world of tranquillity, relaxation and wellness. I was lucky enough, as part of this review, to have a treatment. Whilst deciding on what treatment myself and my partner would like, we were astounded by the variety of treatments available and how affordable they were. Redworth offer a Morning Booster or Afternoon Bliss package for just £50 each where you receive food and a treatment, as well as full use of spa facilities! Great value for money. There really is something for everyone!

We finally decided on a ‘Best Of Both’ Tranquillity Face and Body Duo treatment which is basically, for people who can’t decide on what to have so this enables you to do both with this face and body duo. It includes a revitalising back massage followed by a Declor facial. On arrival to the Retreat, you’re hit with the ooze of relaxation. I immediately felt zen! The staff are so lovely and welcoming, we were shown to our treatment room and told to lie back and relax.

I was most looking forward to the massage, especially after the Great North Run and all of the exercise I’ve been doing recently. The message released all my tension and stress, it honestly felt like a weight had literally been lifted off my shoulders. The Declor facial was wonderful too, I’ve had a terrible breakout recently and this sort of love was exactly what my skin needed! The facial uses essential oils and a gentle polish to wake up tired skin leaving it refreshed and radiant. We both felt a million dollars after and continued our chilled afternoon around the pool.

Soon, evening came and we had a date at the 1744 Restaurant. The eatery is situated in the heart of the hotel, serving exquisite dishes in fabulous surroundings. The restaurant menu is available every evening and draws on premium, seasonal and, where possible, locally sourced ingredients to create delicious dishes that draw on a fusion of English and European flavours. The menu was very exciting, it had so many choices which is great for my picky eater boyfriend! It was a set menu, you can have two courses for £23.50 but we were offered three which is usually £27.50 as part of the review. It took us ages to decide, we were hungry and when you’re hungry you just wanted everything don’t you?! All the dishes tickled our taste buds!

For starters, I choose the Mature cheddar cheese and onion croquettes with the plum tomato jam and my boyfriend went for the Thai spiced fishcake with sweet chilli mayonnaise. The dishes arrived in good time like I said we were hungry so we were grateful for the little wait! My croquettes were amazing, following a meal plan for the last 8 weeks has meant I’ve had little cheese in my diet so I was devoured the melted cheddar which was complimented so well by the red onion inside! The Thai fishcakes were divine too, I had a little taste and they were so flavoursome, I was worried about them being too spicy but they were perfectly spiced.

For the main course, we both couldn’t resist the 6oz Aberdeen Angus beef burger! We saw the dish before we choose as someone on the table next to us had it and we couldn’t take our eyes off it! It looked mouthwateringly good! It came served in a brioche bun with baby gem lettuce, sliced plum tomato, hand cut chips, tomato relish and 2 beer battered onion rings. I think it was the onion rings that done it for me, they were massive! It was incredibly tasty and don’t get me started on the chips. Just look at them!

Despite stuffing our faces, we still managed to squeeze in a dessert. The dessert menu was my kind of foodie heaven. I have such a sweet tooth it’s unbelievable! We went for a Jaffa cake cheesecake and sticky toffee pudding. I wasn’t sure what to expect with the Jaffa cake cheesecake but it was as you can imagine, chocolatey on the outside and orangey on the inside, totally scrumptious. The sticky toffee pudding was delicious too. So many establishments get such a simple dessert wrong but Redworth got it so right. The cake itself was lukewarm and the toffee was melted to just the right temperature and together it made a dessert dream. After a few glasses of wine, we hit the hay! We were really looking forward to a sound night in our luxurious room.

And our eight hours sleep didn’t disappoint. The bed was exceptionally comfortable and the pillows were firm yet springy. We woke up feeling brand new, especially after the massage and facial from the day before. We got up and went for a swim in the spa again to wake us up and then we headed to breakfast.

Breakfast is hosted in the 1744 restaurant and is of a buffet style. The breakfast is honestly one of my favourite parts of any overnight stay as I do look forward to a full English. We got seated straight away by the attentive staff and they explained how the buffet worked. We went up and discovered what delights were on offer. All of the produce tasted really fresh and it all looked appetizing. I know a buffet style layout can put people off breakfast within some places as you sometimes wonder how long the food has sat there and the eggs are always overdone but at Redworth it was all super fresh, the eggs were dippy standard and nor was the bacon overdone. I can not fault the breakfast at all, super yummy and it set us up for the day.

Check out is around 11 am, so we packed our cases and said goodbye to our spectacular room sadly. After checking out we didn’t leave immediately as we thought we’d have a walk around the grounds as it really is stunning scenery. I couldn’t resist taking a few insta snaps!

And then it was time to leave. We had a lovely break and overnight stay at Redworth Hall, I couldn’t recommend the hotel enough. It is perfect for any occasion, in fact, we’re considering returning on our anniversary. We had such a relaxing stay and our stay was made by the polite and caring staff who really couldn’t do enough for us. The renovations have made the hotel even better and I’d go as far as to say it’s up there with one of the best stately homes in the North East. You need to give it a visit!

*This is a collaborative post. I was gifted a stay in return for my honest opinions.